


Looking after Nero

by Jote_Aesa



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Dante and Vergil look after him, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Titles, I'm sorry Nero, Implied/Referenced Incest, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Nero gets hurt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:54:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24181663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jote_Aesa/pseuds/Jote_Aesa
Summary: Dante and Vergil are sent to look for Nero who has gone missing while on a job. What they find is a very demonic Nero who is also very injured. They managed to get him back to the office where they attempt to bring back Nero's human mind back before the prolonged use of his Devil Trigger causes more damage.(basically, Nero hurt and Dante and Vergil look after him. though VDN is the main pairing but probably wont be any smut. Also they are related in this so, don't like don't read!)
Relationships: Dante/Nero (Devil May Cry), Dante/Nero/Vergil (Devil May Cry), Dante/Vergil (Devil May Cry), Nero/Vergil (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 38
Kudos: 255





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wew ok, so this was supposed to be a one shot but then it kinda grew too long so now it's a two-shot.... hopefully ^^'
> 
> I rated it E because of mentioned torture and just to be safe tbh.
> 
> Also their demonic natures are mentioned a lot. Can't have Demonic Nero being all hurt and cute and not have Dante and Vergil's demonic side act up :3
> 
> I'm sorry, i just really wanted some hurt Nero being looked after by family T^T
> 
> -

Nero hissed as another sharp spike was driven into his body, this one going through his left shoulder. His demonic healing sluggishly healed the skin round the spike to stop the blood flow but it also meant that he could feel the metal grinding against the bone every time he panted for breath. There was a trilling laughter above him and he glared pitifully against the demon.

“Aw watz the matta child uv spardaaa.” The demon cooed, leaning close so that it’s rancid breath flowed over Nero who just about managed to stop himself from heaving: It would only serve to remind him of the spikes driven into his abdomen and chest as well. His demon side hissed at the creature above him, but Nero knew he had no trigger left after he used to stop himself from getting disemboweled.

A feminine hand with wickard looking claws came down and stroked his cheek. Nero felt himself snarl at the touch but didn’t say anything. The demon tutted and swayed it’s snake like body above him

“Ssso fiesssty. It iss a sshame that a pretty thing like you is unmated.” The demon hissed, looking mighty put out Nero’s single status. Nero just continued to glare. “Give me wat i want, child. Give me the power of Ssssspardaaa.”

Nero let out a chuckle, twisting his one hand into a middle finger, ignoring how his broken arm protested. “F-fuck you. You ain’t getting shit from m-me.”

The demon hissed, shaking it’s double rattle tail angrily.

“Ssssuit yoursself, child.” The demon said before summoning another sharp spike. It hovered menacingly above Nero’s face and he felt a quick stab of fear in his chest.

“Let’sss see how pretty you can ssscream.” The demon hummed.

And scream Nero did before his world turned black.

-

Dante sighed happily, letting the pages of the skin magazine flutter against his skin with the action. In the background his faithful, if not very beat up (“The fuck Dante, get this piece of shit fixed.”), jukebox played Elena Houston. There was a breeze flowing through the one open window of the shop-the other windows used to open but after so many demon attacks and motorcycles coming through the shop it was just easier to leave them stuck closed- stopping him from overheating in the heat wave that had hit Capulet a few days prior. Of course it also let in the faint stench of rotting garbage, but that also could have been the pizza box that was on the snooker table from a week ago.

Either way, life was good just about then. He had recently returned from Hell with his brother Vergil, who surprisingly had decided to stay with Dante and help out with the business. Lady wasn’t thrilled with the idea but after adding an all inclusive cruise holiday for her and Trish on his debt, she was fine. Vergil only ventured from the shop for a job or more books anyway, he was completely disgusted with Dante’s choice of literature and borrowed money from Lady to buy books more to his liking. Of course that was added to Dante’s debt as well. At this point Dante figured he would still be paying off that debt when he was dead and gone and just rolled with it by now. 

Morrison had also seemed dubious of Vergil’s intentions after hearing bits and pieces about him from Dante’s drunken ramblings but jobs were getting done, he was being paid which meant Dante actually had hot water and electricity for once and decided to let bygones be bygones.

So life was golden right about now for Dante, things had been going good for him for once. Which made him highly suspicious when the phone started to ring just as Vergil stepped out of the kitchen with a pot of tea.

Both of them stared at it for a long second before Vergil tilted his head as if saying “after you.” Dante shot him a scowl and kicked his heel on the desk, catching the phone mid air and bringing it to his ear.

“Devil May Cry.”

 _”Hello, Dante?”_ A quiet voice flittered over the phone, making Dante sit up in his chair. Vergil also must have recognised the voice because he placed his tea on the desk.

“Kyrie? What’s up?” Dante asked, feeling mildly perturbed as to why the young woman was calling. She only ever called for two reason: To check up on Nero and to chew Nero out when he forgot something, like one of the kid’s birthday presents. As far as he knew Nero was in Fortuna visiting.

 _”Dante, is Nero there?”_ She asked and Dante could hear how her voice wobbled. She was worried, very worried.

“Sorry, he’s not here. Is something wrong?” He asked as he shot Vergil a glance, his brother was also worried by the slight tightening of his eyes.

There was a sniffle down the phone and he could hear Kyrie mutter something before the phone went silent and a new voice came on.

_”Yo there cowboy.”_

“Nico, what's going on?”

 _”So here’s the thing, I dropped Nero off at a job, supposed to be a quick thing, a couple of hours at most. We agreed I would pick him up the next day.”_ Nico explained between the puffs of her cigarette, even her voice was tight with tension.

“So what’s the problem?”

There was what sounded like a sob in the background. _”I dropped Nero off 3 days ago and haven’t heard back from him. His phone is dead.”_

The good feeling Dante had earlier quickly vanished under the news and he flicked his eyes towards the weapons wall and Vergil gave a stiff nod, his tea now forgotten.

“Ok, tell me about this job and where you dropped him off.”

-

Dante was never a good driver by any standard, just barely staying within the speed limits. Today was even worse, he was clearly going over the limit but refused to take his foot off the accelerator. After getting the details from Nico, he had taken his weapons, the standard Rebellion and Ebony and Ivory, from Vergil and both of them had jumped into his trusty convertible and drove away.

Vergil had sent a quick text to Morrison explaining they would be away from the shop and to pass any jobs onto the girls, the response they got was Morrison asking when Vergil learned to text. Vergil had scowled at the phone and Dante had cracked a smile, remembering the four hours and six phones it took before Vergil stopped getting frustrated. Still the humour didn’t last long and the impending feeling that something was seriously wrong hung over them.

Nero never forgot to check in if a job was going to take longer than expected and he definitely didn’t turn his phone off. Nero was way too much of a considerate kid to just not answer and everyone knew it.

The leather seat next to him creaked and Dante glanced at Vergil from the corner of his eye. He seemed to be sitting relaxed in the car seat but anyone who knew Vergil could see how the corner of his eyes were pinched and his shoulders were just slightly tense. Vergil was worried.

His and Nero’s relationship had been rocky at first: Nero was still hurt over Vergil amputating his arm, abandoning him as a child and the whole trying to end the world business. It took many days of Dante playing mediator and translator before Nero and Vergil could stand to be in the same room as each other but it worked and now the two were...Friends of sorts. Dante didn’t think they would ever feel like a proper family. Too much history and pain for them to ever get the family vibes.  
However no matter what they were to each other, they always had each others backs. It was why neither had batted an eyelash at grabbing their gear and hunting Nero down.

“Take the next left.” Vergil’s voice floated across the silence in the car, making Dante blink in surprise. He did as told and it was obvious when tarmac turned to dirt and soon they were speeding down a forest back road in the middle of nowhere. Nico had said she dropped Nero at the start of this road and would pick him up the next day, which never happened. It was supposed to be a usual seek and destroy of a demon’s nest but Nero had never returned.

Dante eventually had to slow the car as the road became more and more bumpy and uneven. The road led to what looked like a factory that had been left to rot as the forest had mostly reclaimed it. He parked the car close to a crop of trees and stopped the engine.

It was deathly quiet, no sounds besides the breeze rustling through the leaves. No birds or forest animals scuttling along the floor. Just silence. It made Dante on edge and he could feel his demonic nature stir as well: though he couldn’t smell the stench of demons, he could feel them.

The passenger door opened and Vergil calmly got out, Yamato hanging from his belt. Dante had offered Vergil the use of any of his Devil Arms, except from Pandora. It was fickle suitcase and only allowed Dante to use her. The blue twin had declined and Dante didn’t bother bringing it up again, Vergil would know he could access the weapons at any time.

Dante followed suit and instantly could smell Nero, it was faint but fresh. Nero was either still here or had been here in the last two hours. The small clearing had obvious signs of battle: there were scorch marks from Red Queen and a few trees had bullet holes but there were no demon corpses or any residue from where they had rotted away. 

Overall it just screamed suspicious.

The two sons of Sparda examined the clearing and beneath fresh leaf fall they found signs of something being dragged through the dirt. It led to the entrance of the decrepit factory and both of them rolled their eyes before kicking down the rusted double doors.

Inside was what Dante had expected: weeds and vines covered most of the space and a fallen tree had caved in the back right corner, there was also a few demon corpse residue on the floor. In the back left corner were a few cracked and burnt demon eggs. It appeared this was the nest Nero had come to destroy but still his scent was faint and there was no sign of him.

“Let’s take a look around.” Dante said as he veered off to the right, hearing Vergil’s boots crunch through the undergrowth. Now he knew what to look for, Dante could see more and more signs of battle and had even come across a few heaps of spent bullet casings. He was about to turn back towards Vergil’s direction when something caught his eye.  
Deeply buried in the undergrowth a silver shimmer glittered in the sunlight crawling through the hole in the roof. It took a bit of pulling but eventually Dante found himself staring down at Blue Rose. The double barrelled gun had a few scuff marks and smudges of dirt but seemed to be in good working order. 

“Dante, there's a double set of doors leading into what looks like a basement.” Vergil called and Dante quickly wedged Blue Rose down the back of his pants, already hearing Nero’s foul mouthed complaints at the treatment of his beloved gun. He sauntered up to Vergil and told him what he had found. Vergil mouth set into a grim line. They both knew what it meant and they weren’t happy.

The double doors leading into the basement were open but well concealed behind the debris from the hole in the roof. Although “basement” wasn’t the right word. There was a large area of space that split into two corridors that must have led to even more rooms. In each corner of the space were a few dead potted plants and some faded instructions hung off the wall. Whatever this place was many years ago, it didn’t seem like a factory.

Also down here Nero’s scent was stronger, as was the smell of blood.

“It appears we gotta go our separate ways.” Dante spoke as he rolled up his sleeves.

“It appears so, left or right?” Vergil responded, his voice dark with barely concealed emotion. No matter how you looked at it, something had happened down here.

“Aw, you know what they say Verge, age before beauty.” Dante cocked a grin at Vergil’s withering look and watched as his twin stalked towards the left corridor. As Vergil disappeared into the darkness, Dante was minutely proud of his dual heritage as it allowed him to see in the dark. The right corridor did indeed lead to rooms, but it was also long and winding before it dipped into the earth. The rooms to the sides were either bare or full of destroyed demon eggs.

However the eggs he found hadn’t been burnt or sliced. They had been _crushed._  
It made Dante highly suspicious and he pulled out one of his guns just in case. Deeper down the tunnel the scent of Nero and blood grew stronger and in the end Dante followed his nose instead of inspecting the numerous rooms.

It took a long while before the corridor opened out into what appeared to be a large church. Rotted pews covered most of the floor and a few timber beams had given way under the weight of what looked like tree roots. There was a large cracked black marble slab at the far end of the room, and he realised it was a small hellgate.

The room stank of blood and death and as Dante walked further into the room he could clearly see why. What had been an obviously large snake demon now lay rotting in several pieces all over the church. The head of the demon was pinned to the ground by a sword. Nero’s sword.

Dante heard the sound of boots coming from the left of the room and watched as Vergil appeared, taking in his surroundings and the demon corpse as well. Nero’s scent was fresh and strong but neither of them could see where Nero could be and even when they called his name, there was no reply. Dante glanced at Vergil as he nudged what appeared to the mid section of snake demon with his foot.

“Something stinks about this Verge. Where is Nero? He wouldn’t just leave hi-” Dante cut himself off as a powerful demonic aura suddenly filled the room and he had to quickly dodge out of the way before a pew crashed into the place where he had stood. With quick movements both hunters had their weapons at the ready and were scanning the area. 

“Dante, this energy. It feels familiar.”Vergil’s voice was hushed as he looked round, Yamato partly unsheathed and ready.

Dante nodded to show he had heard and racked his brain to figure out why the demonic aura was familiar. All he could smell was Nero’s scent. Nero! Just as he came to this realisation, a giant spectral hand tried to squash both of them from above. The light from the hand gave them enough to see the two glowing amber eyes, sitting above them before their eyes switched back to darkness.

“Nero?! Kid, it’s us!” Dante shouted, more and more confused as there was a roar and another spectral hand caused him to dive over several pews. There was a swish of air and Dante caught one of Yamato’s slices that hit the timber that Nero had been perched on. Two glowing wings appeared swooping to another timber.

“What the hell?”Dante shouted, getting to his feet and keeping an eye on Nero’s devil triggered form.

“It appears he doesn’t recognise us.” Was Vergil’s cool reply, his skin had decided to take on the colour of fresh snow and his mouth was twisted into an open grimace. He was as unhappy with this situation as Dante was.

After another bout of dodging spectral hands and a few fired bullets, Vergil and Dante found themselves standing by the severed demon’s head and the cracked hellgate. It was then they noticed the several bent spikes sticking out from the hellgate and the alarming amount of blood covering the floor.

Dante’s attention snapped to Nero as he dropped from the beams to balance perfectly on the back of a pew. Spectral wings flared aggressively but now that he could see all of Nero, he wished he could unsee it and felt his heart break at the sight.

Though triggered, Nero was obviously still injured, made obvious by the sluggishly bleeding wounds and he had lost a lot of weight in the three days he had been missing, possibly caused by being in his triggered state for so long. His aura screamed aggression but there was also the scent of pain and fear, not helped by the alarming amount of blood, Nero’s blood, around the place.

“Any ideas Vergil?” Dante asked as Nero snarled but didn’t attack, the younger devil hunter seemed to sway and his double lid eyes blinked rapidly before snarling again. Vergil was quiet for what seemed like a lifetime before he spoke.

“I believe Nero’s demonic nature views our human selves as a threat.” Nero growled loudly at the word human and the feathers on his spectral wings ruffled and puffed up in threat. Both twins raised an eyebrow. “It would be wise for us to trigger. Perhaps then Nero’s demon self will recognise us.”

“That’s a big “Perhaps” there Verge.” Dante said dubiously, but if anyone knew about demonic natures, it would be Vergil. Vergil gave him a stare that told him he was an idiot before they were both once again distracted by Nero throwing two more pews at them.

“Ok! So let’s trigger and hope for the best!” Dante had barely finished speaking when they both triggered into their Sin Devil forms. The demonic energy from all three half demons seemed oppressive in the church but it worked.

Nero snarled at sensing the demonic energy and then blinked, his spectral wings slowly lowered from their aggressive stance and the claws on the wings once again hooked over his shoulders. Burning amber eyes stared at them both before Nero sniffed the air curiously and jumped down from the pew, cautiously crouch walking up to both of them and sniffing again.

“Um-”

“Silence Dante, let Nero’s demon side examine us.”Vergil’s voice gravelled out, instantly capturing Nero’s attention. It was a tense few minutes as Nero’s demon form examined the twins: up close they could see that Nero was barely putting any weight on his left foot and walked with a limp. They could also see the barely healed wounds looked infected, the blue scales seeming frail and flaking around the wounds. 

Nero let out a soft cooing noise as he lifted each of the twins massive wings, seemingly fascinated. Dante thought it was rather adorable when he accidently twitched one of his six wings and Nero followed the movement excitedly. Like a kitten chasing its mother’s tail.

“Nero.” Vergil called, his voice distorting the vowels, “Nero, we’re not going to hurt you.” Nero trilled again and his face morphed into one of confusion. With a sharp flash and a crackle of energy, Vergil detriggered. At once Nero became defensive but curiosity won out and he sniffed the air again, leaning closer and closer to Vergil until he seemed to realise Vergil was the demon he had just seen and the tension that had reappeared melted off again.

Dante did the same and detriggered and Nero looked very put out at the loss of his wings. It was all very adorable, and soul crushing.

“Vergil, what’s wrong with Nero.” He whispered out, watching as Nero lifted his coat flaps curiously. It was like he was a child. A very big and dangerous child, but a child nonetheless.

“It appears what ever happened here, it caused him to trigger, bringing his demonic nature right to the front and lose all awareness with his human mind. It was why were perceived as threats in our human form.” Vergil’s posture was rigid, the grimace had become permanent on his face. Nero swayed where he stood before his eyes rolled up and Dante had to quickly catch him before he faceplanted the floor. It was a few seconds before he realised something.

“Vergil, he’s not detriggering.”

-

Dante never thought being back on smooth tarmac would feel so amazing but after driving back down the bumpy back road, he knew he would need to get his suspension checked. It took some maneuvering, but him and Vergil had managed to carry Nero out of the factory and place the younger hunter on the back seats. He hadn’t realised how long they had been in that underground church until they had made it out and it was dark out.

Vergil was frowning at the dashboard like it had personally offended him, though his eyes kept glancing to check the rear view mirror and therefore Nero. Dante kept quiet, he knew his brother was mulling something over in his mind, possibly trying to find out why Nero had not detriggered when he passed out.

He couldn’t understand why Vergil had grabbed several scales from the snake demon’s rotting head before they left as well.

Dante did remember to grab Red Queen though, Nero would have his ass if he had left the well crafted sword there. The drive home was uneventful and by the time the car pulled up outside Devil May Cry Dante was ready to eat two large pizzas to himself to try and ease the pit of worry in his stomach.

“I’ll get the kid, you order the pizza.” Dante said as he opened the car door, not missing how Vergil rolled his eyes. His twin did as he was told and headed towards the shop doors. Dante opened the back door and stared down at Nero who was still passed out on the back seat. Nero’s matted hair was fanned out and under the terrible street lighting he could see that the small horns on Nero’s chin were shorter than they originally were back on the Qliphoth: it appeared that they had been broken and were uneven. The wounds on his chest were closed but Dante could see the infection under the skin. The spectral claws gripping to Nero’s shoulders seemed to be also damaged, and the feathers covering the wings seemed messy or broken.

“What happened to you kid?” Dante muttered sadly to himself before slowly inching Nero’s limp form out of the car and over his shoulder. Kicking the door open, Dante found out that the shop wasn’t empty. Lady and Trish sat perched on the edge of his desk, their faces looking like they both had sucked lemons. Vergil looked at him while he was on the phone ordering pizza and the look in his eyes clearly said the two women wouldn’t let him warn Dante.

Dante sighed, shifting Nero’s weight on his shoulder. “Hello Ladies-”

“What the fuck Dante? Why didn’t you tell us that this ‘job’ was about Nero!” Lady exclaimed, sounding more pissed than the time Dante left the city for a few days just so he wouldn’t have to face her wrath about spending her money. Vergil raised an eyebrow as he threw the phone back onto its cradle. Trish hummed thoughtfully but remained quiet.

“Look, it was sort of last minute and-”

“And what, you thought we wouldn’t want to know if the kid was ok? He’s part of our family too y’know!” Lady raged, storming over to Dante who had been holding his breath to stop the irritation from being interrupted from showing. Lady stopped abruptly a few steps away from Dante when a low guttural growl sounded through the room. Dante glanced at Vergil who’s eyes were glowing red and he looked a few seconds away from triggering. He himself could feel his demon side stir at the perceived threat.. To Nero.

A cough from Trish had Lady looking at her. Trish sighed and slowly walked up to Lady and took her hand. “C’mon, now isn’t a good time for anyone. We’ll come back tomorrow-”

“Next week.”

“We’ll come back next week when the idiots have had time to sort their shit out.” Trish said, beginning to tug Lady from the office. Lady sent the twins looks of death but let the blond woman drag her away.

It was a tense few minutes until Dante blew out a breath and relaxed his shoulders. He walked over to the couch and gently placed Nero’s form on it. The younger half devil grumbled but eventually quietened. Dante glanced at Vergil who was deeply frowning at the floor.

“Y’know, mum was right, that frown did become permanent.” He joked, grinning when his twin glared at him for a few seconds before his gaze flickered to Nero in an unspoken question.

“The kid’s pretty beat up, even his trigger is damaged. We’re gonna have to reopen some of the wounds to get the infection out, and the one horn on his chin is cracked and will need filing down. I have a few vital stars in my room which should help.” Dante sighed, and rubbed a hand over his face.”We’re also gonna have to get the kid some food.”

“I have ordered a pizza for each of us and 2 meat feasts for Nero, extra meat.” Vergil said as he perched gently on the arm of the couch. Both of them just stared at the sleeping man until a knock startled them and a small voice saying “Delivery!” got them moving.

Dante went and answered the door to pay for the food while Vergil went upstairs to get the first aid bag. The smell of pizza was divine and Dante’s stomach rumbled loudly and the delivery boy chuckled as they went back to their moped.

Dante kicked the door shut and inhaled the smell of the food of the gods. He looked up and just about managed to stop himself from throwing said precious food up in the air. Obviously the smell had gotten Nero’s attention because the boy was _right there._ Amber eyes stared at the boxes of pizza enraptured and Dante was pretty sure he could see some drool dripping down Nero’s chin. He also noticed that the wing shaped horns on his head were scuffed and also kind of perked, like a cat's ears.

Just to test a theory Dante moved the boxes to the side, holding back a snort when Nero followed the boxes with his gaze.

“Dante, stop torturing the poor boy and give him his pizzas, he must be starving.” Vergil scolded, carrying the first aid bag, a couple of damp towels and a bowl of steaming water which were all placed on the rickety coffee table that trembled at the weight before settling.

Dante rolled his eyes and handed two boxes to Nero without looking, he could tell what sort of pizza it was just by smell. Nero looked at the boxes in confusion, blatantly sniffing the cardboard. Dante snickered when Nero took out a chunk of cardboard with his teeth only to spit it out with a growl. Vergil sighed, exasperated and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Nero, come here.” Said demon perked up at the sound of his name (it was relieving to see that Nero’s demon still responded to the name.) and trotted over and sat cautiously on the couch, taking a moment to rub his jaw on the back of the couch.

 _Scent marking, cute!_ Dante thought to himself as he went to join his brother and his nephew. Vergil had by that time ripped the lids off Nero’s boxes and the boy had already demolished half of one pizza, the other was on his lap and every time he thought Vergil was getting too close he would summon his spectral wings and cover the box protectively. Dante also got some serious side eye when he flopped onto the couch but Nero quickly ignored him in favour of shoving a whole pizza slice in his mouth.

“Well, let’s follow the kid and chow down!” Dante said with glee, passing Vergil his pizza, Dante knew it was his pizza because Vergil was the only one crazy enough to have vegetables on it!


	2. Day 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! So here is chapter 2 and wew boy, looks like I will have another chapter or two before this is finished.
> 
> Thank you so much for all your kind comments! They feed my soul <3
> 
> (Also all mistakes are mine, though i do try and correct them.)

“Ow, kid, unhook those claws out of my thigh.”

“Grrrrrrrrr.”

“Hey! No growling! Do you want to have uneven chin horns for the rest of your life?”

“......Grrrrrrr.”

“Yeah that’s what I thought, now sit still and let us patch you up!” Dante gave the pouting Demon Nero a hard stare until the younger man huffed and tilted his chin up so Dante could carefully even out the horns on his chin. It had been a tough evening, the first problem they had to tackle was trying to get Nero into the shower so they could get all the grime off and see what they had to sort out. The younger demon had not liked this idea and had sent Vergil flying through the wall into what had been a spare room. It had taken the sacrifice of Dante’s shirt and some of his skin before Nero would get under the warm water. 

Dante also found out that demonic Nero really liked the smell of his shampoo, strawberry sundae scented, of course, and practically emptied the whole thing over his head and rubbed the shampoo into his hair and skin as much as he could. Dante had moaned at the loss of his favourite shampoo in order to distract himself from the feeling of pleasure at the sight of Nero wearing his scent.

Of course, the second problem had been to get Nero _out_ the shower. Apparently Nero had been more than happy to stay under the warm spray but Dante knew his water bill was going to be painful as it was and didn’t need the extra charges on top of it. They had to bribe Nero with the promise of a hot bath and more of Dante’s shampoo before the kid relented.

They had treated most of his wounds with Vital Star though the deeper ones remained and they had to open a few up to get some of the infection out which was worse than they originally thought. Some of the scales round the infected wound had to be cut out, much to Nero’s displeasure but neither twin got thrown anywhere, just accumulated more claw marks .  
Now, Dante sat on the coffee table facing Nero who was perched on the sofa between Vergil’s legs and attempting to file down Nero’s broken chin horns. The kid was dressed haphazardly in one of Dante’s old long sleeve shirts from his younger days and a pair of Vergil’s pajama trousers. Both items were a little big on Nero’s malnourished frame but Dante wasn’t gonna lie and say the kid didn’t just look adorable. 

Vergil meanwhile was slowly but methodically soothing the spectral feathers of Nero’s wings. Any broken ones were pulled free where they fizzled into nothing.

It was ten minutes before Dante deemed Nero’s chin horns as even as they were gonna get and instead focused on looking at the rest of Nero’s face.

“Hey, Verge. There’s something…. Off about Nero’s left eye.” Dante said, staring intently at the said eye, trying to figure out what was off about it.

“Hmm?” Vergil shuffled free from under the spectral wings that had been draped around him and came to sit on the coffee table as well, ignoring the sound of the old wood groaning under both their weight.

“You’re right, his left eye is slightly discoloured.” Vergil gently took Nero’s chin and tilted it so he could get a better look. Unlike Nero’s right eye, his left wasn’t pure amber, the sclera was darker and Vergil could see minute black veins running through. From a distance it would be hard to tell there was anything wrong, but this close both older hunter’s could see. Vergil also knew what would cause this kind of discolouration.

“It appears.. Someone has caused almost an unrepairable amount of damage to Nero’s eye.” 

Dante hissed a breath through his teeth at Vergil’s words, feeling his demonic energy sizzle under his skin. He could tell Vergil was livid at this revelation. They were demon hunters, they had probably seen every wound imaginable and healed from with few scars to show. For Nero’s eye to look like that, it would have had to be extremely severe, maybe even completely destroyed.

The coffee table creaked in relief as Vergil stood with a sharp motion, Dante knew his brother was itching for a fight, possibly with whatever had caused Nero’s wounds. He went to stand but was halted by Vergil who held up his hand.

“Don’t. Stay here and make sure Nero rests.”

“What are you gonna do?” Dante asked, feeling slightly worried that Vergil was going to do something stupid like raise another Qliphoth. Vergil shrugged on his coat, Yamato already tied to his belt.  
“I’m going to do a little research about the demon corpse we found.” And with that Dante found himself alone in the shop. It would always freak Dante out how seamlessly and quickly Vergil could cut a portal to disappear into.

 _Fuck, this is so messed up._ Dante thought to himself, rubbing a hand over his face and taking a deep breath. Vergil was right, he needed to be here to watch over Nero. The kid was docile for the moment; obviously Nero’s demon side recognised the shop as “safe.” However that could change if one of the girls decided to drop by for a lecture or if Morrison decided to drop off a job.

Crash!

Dante jerked with surprise and looked over his shoulder at Nero, who had at some point, gotten bored and was looking curiously through Dante’s meagre DVD collection. The crash has been Nero knocking off the first aid stuff so he could sit on the coffee table which oddly hadn’t creaked under the added weight. Dante noticed Nero was looking at one DVD case with an interested look on his face.

He knew that Nero’s demon side could just about grasp the concept of English and reading but still, the sight of that curiosity made him smile. He stood up, walking round the traitorous coffee table and knelt next to the younger hunter.

“You want to watch that, kid?” He asked, watching as the spectral wings shuddered in their folded state while Nero slowly held out the DVD.

 _Wait… he understood that?_ He filed the information away for later and went to the shabby DVD player. He found the thing in a second hand shop with a handful of truly awful DVDs, but it was cheap and helped pass the time.

After some shuffling around, tidying up the remnants of the first aid bag Dante found himself slumped on one side of the couch with Nero at the other side, amber eyes fixed intently on the 20” TV.

Dante remembered this film vaguely, it was something about a cowboy vampire hunter who falls for a vampire. The acting is truly awful and the costumes are subpar but the information for the plot was oddly well researched, if a bit off in places. Vampires weren’t allergic to garlic and a stake to the heart wouldn’t kill them. Still, it had been a good enough film for him to go out and buy some chaps. He missed wearing those chaps but there were only so many taunts and insults from the girls he could take before they truly began to piss him off. Now he only wears the chaps on some solo missions that he knows the girls aren’t going to be anywhere near.

Lady has an uncanny knack of giving him a job she doesn’t have time for then showing up to chew him out for any damage that had been done to the surrounding area.

Dante refocused on the film in time to see Mr-cowboy-hunter make awkward love to his vampire lady. He cringed as the lady took a bite out of her lover. Truly this film is awful and he is beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable sitting next to Nero.

Who is fast asleep.

Dante blinked at the sight before him. Nero is curled on his side with one of his wings draped over him like a blanket. There is a slight furrow to his brow and the claws on his other wing flex and twitch. 

Dante wondered if Nero was having a bad dream.

Nightmares are a close companion of Dante’s. He had seen enough fucked up shit in his life for them not to be. Nero’s twitching had become full body by now and his top lip was peeled back in a snarl. Dante let out a quiet “Oomph” as the wing that was acting as a blanket thwapped him hard in the chest.

“Nero? C’mon Nero, time to wake up kid.” Dante gently shook him, dodging another swipe from a spectral wing. There was a low growl coming from Nero’s chest now but no matter how much Dante shook him, the kid remained asleep. The aura of demonic energy began to be noticeable around Nero’s form, his wings beginning to get the familiar glow that usually meant that someone was about to be crushed in a giant spectral hand.

Dante had just finished repairing his shop.

 _Ok time for plan B._ Dante relaxed his shoulders then yanked on his devil trigger, slipping into his Sin form easily. With his new senses he could feel Nero’s power: it felt like someone was giving him minor electric shocks, though it wasn’t uncomfortable. He took a deep breath which caught at the back of his throat. Nero smelt like pain and fear and it made his demon side shudder.

“Wake up Nero!” Dante growled, his voice sounding distorted due to his demonic side. He gave the boy another shake and let out a sigh of relief as the glowing in Nero’s wings instantly dimmed and his twitching stopped. Amber eyes opened slowly, and Dante swore just for a second he saw a flash of blue.

-

Vergil let out a snarl, gripping the witch by her throat. Several of her pets lay dead at his feet, while others cowered in the corners of the hut.

“I’m going to ask one more time. Who does these scales belong to and you better not lie, because I doubt you’ll be useful as a witch without your arms.” He threatened, his demonic side taking some pleasure in the way the witch trembled in his grasp.

“O-ok, I will tell you son of Sparda,” The witch coughed as she was let go and stumbled towards the table where the scale was sitting. “I won’t be able to tell you who it belongs to, only the clan.” She said, watching warily in case Vergil didn’t like the answer. Said son of Sparda just raised a brow as if to say “Get on with it.”

The witch’s hands shook as she held the scales between them, she closed her eyes and began to mutter in an ancient dead language that oddly sounded gaelic. Vergil watched closely, his hand on Yamato just in case the witch tried anything. The scales began to glow an eerie red, the sound of hissing snakes filled the air but as soon as it started, it stopped and the witch dropped the scales as if it burned her. By the look of her hands that wasn’t too far from the truth. The witch’s pale skin looked grey.

“...T-the snake these scales came from is the most powerful Naga clan, The Taniths.”

“Thank you.” Vergil turned to leave, stepping over a corpse delicately.

“W-wait! Son of Sparda! I must warn you, the Tanith clan is almost as old as Lord Mundus. There are few left but they are powerful. They do not take kindly to disfigurement, every scale is precious to them.” The witch warned, fretting and wringing her hands.

Vergil looked back with a smirk, feeling pride in his chest. “Well then, It’s a good thing the one I took the scales from was already dead.” His demonic side puffed up even more as the already ashen witch paled further, looking as if she was about to faint.

“D-dead? B-but who could…”

“It was my son, Nero. He was the one who killed the she snake.” With that Vergil strode from the hut, tutting as his boots began to get dirty from the swampland.

Now he just needed to find someone who knew where the Tanith clan nested.

-

Dante sighed internally, flapping his wings. He had managed to awaken Nero but now the younger hunter refused to leave his wings alone. He was forced to lie face down on his bed with his wings outstretched while Nero.. groomed his wings. It was an odd sensation to say the least but it also felt.. Kinda good too. Like a massage.

Dante’s wings didn’t have feathers like Nero did, instead they were scale covered bone with a bat like membrane. Nero was gently pulling what looked to be molting scales from his wings and tutting as he did so. He didn’t even know his demon side even molted. It wasn’t like he was in that form for long periods of time.

Dante hissed under his breath as Nero pulled at a stubborn scale before rubbing the abused area. He was infinitely glad that he was on his stomach so Nero couldn’t see the effect he was having. Though it was testing Dante self control not to rut his hips into the mattress.

He knew he should be feeling more guilty about being aroused around Nero but hell, he was part demon and demons were shameless creatures. Demon’s mated with those who they deemed a perfect match through scent and strength. It didn’t matter if they were family or not. Something he and Vergil had learned the hard way when they were younger. How Sparda had found a human so accepting of demon ways was beyond Dante. Eva had barely batted an eyelash when she had found the two of them making out (badly Dante had to add.) She had shushed their stuttered apologies with a smile and shooed them towards their father for a more thorough lecture on their demonic halves.

However Dante had to remind himself that Nero didn’t grow up with accepting parents. He had grown up on a religious island and had been an outcast for most of his life due to things he couldn’t control. If Nero had been in his human mind, Dante knew the younger hunter would freak out.

And so Dante, kept a tight hold on his demonic side which was doing everything in its power to take control and really get a party going.

This was also how Vergil found them after he suddenly portaled his way into Dante’s room which happened to be the worst timing as Nero yanked out a stubborn dead scale which caused Dante to let out a groan of pleasure.

“Should I leave you two alone?”

Dante choked on his breath at the sound of Vergil’s smug voice, quickly detriggering much to Nero’s displeasure as he let out a whine of loss when the wings disappeared. A flush worked itself up and across Dante’s cheeks as he tried to stumble over an explanation which was waved away by the older twin.

“Enough of your blabbering, Dante.” Vergil threw his coat towards the hamper and promptly made himself comfy on the bed (there was another reason why Dante was so famous with his bed partners and it wasn’t just his skill in bed.)

Dante has by this point rolled himself to the other side and copied Vergil in reclining against the headboard. Nero just remained in the middle of the bed staring at the empty space like he could get Dante’s wings to reappear.

“So uh, did you find anything out?” asked Dante, chuckling as Nero decided to lie between them and stretch his wings out over both of them with a coo that obviously meant that he wanted them to groom his wings. Vergil rolled his eyes but a slight tilt to his lips said he found the sight just as amusing and adorable as Dante did.

“The snake remains we found are part of a powerful Naga clan. It took some digging around in a demonic temple but I found some information on them.” Vergil spoke as he slowly began to stroke Nero’s wings. They were in perfect condition due to the earlier grooming but it was obvious that Nero’s demonic side liked the pampering. It was also one of the few ways demons showed affection that didn’t require blood and violence.

“They are a clan who worshiped Mundus and fought on his side against Father. Sparda had annihilated most of them in the war but two survived. A mated pair in fact.”

Dante groaned at what it meant. They were soon going to have a very angry Naga looking for them for revenge. Most demons mated for life and if their mate died, they sought revenge either killing the enemy and live a lonely life thereafter or die trying. He was about to close his eyes when he remembered something.

“Hey Verge, most of the rooms I came across were full of crushed eggs. Do you think they were the Naga’s?” Vergil hummed under his breath at Dante’s question, tugging at a few feathers just to watch Nero twitch and flex his claws in threat. Though the loud rumbling purr like growls coming from the younger demon ruined the image.

“Perhaps, I found some as well, it seemed like the eggshells were too fragile to keep the young alive. From what I could sense from the remains, there was very little demonic energy weaved into the shells.”

“Of course you would pick up demonic eggshells.”

“It could explain why the She-Naga went after Nero. The hellgate we found wouldn’t have been big enough to keep a demon of her size fully energised to create a stable and healthy shell for her young.” Vergil explained, talking on as if Dante hadn’t spoken at all. Dante gave a snort of derision.

“Of course, she would have been able to sense Sparda’s power in Nero.” At the end of the day, it always came back to demons wanting Sparda’s power. Dante hated it sometimes, Nero had gotten so badly hurt his human mind had crumbled under the pain causing his demonic nature to take control and all because of Sparda’s power. With Sparda’s power the she-demon could have used it to infuse her eggs and make them strong.

“Indeed.”Vergil let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair and for a moment he looked exhausted. “I went back to where we found Nero and did a more thorough investigation.” Vergil said, looking more and more like he didn’t want to talk about whatever it was he was about to mention but knew he had to.

“As you may have guessed a lot of the blood was Nero’s, especially around the hellgate.”

“Verge, stop beating around the bush and just say it. I know it’s gonna be bad, had already known that while we were patching up the kids wounds.” Dante spoke gently, unable to look away from Nero’s dozing face. He realised the kid had been sleeping a lot and chalked it up his demonic healing now having the time to catch up with everything.

Vergil sighed and stopped petting Nero’s wing, instead he covered part of his face with his hand.

“..Those spikes digging into the hellgate? Nero had to have been impaled on them at some point. From the height of the spikes and Nero’s height, the highest one...Would have been through his left eye.”

_What…._

_Just….what!?_ Dante’s mind spun at the realisation and felt faintly sick though he didn’t know if it was him or his demon side or both. Vergil was oddly quiet next to him, his demonic aura was practically screaming in pain. Despite what Vergil said or did, he was a father and part demon at that and the one thing that could drive a demon insane besides a dead mate was their children. It was why Dante made it a rule to always kill every demon in a nest.

Listening to the howls of despair from demons losing their children hurt more than a sword to the chest.

It was no wonder that Nero’s demonic side was in control. That much damage would have killed a human. The pain would have been excruciating.

Dante didn’t bother to stop himself from shifting Nero onto his side and then grabbing Vergil, pulling both of them into an uncomfortable but well needed hug.

“It’ll be okay, Verge. Nero just needs some TLC and time to rest.” Dante spoke, squeezing Vergil’s shoulder. He wasn’t surprised when, with a flash, he found himself hugging Vergil’s Sin form. It took some rearranging but soon he triggered as well hugging both Nero and Vergil, covering both of them protectively with his wings..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awaaaaaah Demon hug pile!!!
> 
> is it possible to be jealous of a scene you wrote? I wouldn't mind being in the middle of demon hug pile :c
> 
> Don't worry! Nero will be coming back into his human mind soon, i just couldn't help myself with fluffy adorable Nero!


	3. A few Days later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry this took so long! ;_; Life has been hectic since start of June, with my Landlady deciding to redecorate my kitchen and dining room which both aren't finished yet. Then my best friend moved in with me so been getting used to that too.
> 
> Also 28th of June was my mum's birthday, first one without her so that was tough and it's gonna be mine soon as well so I apologise if there's any errors in this chapter.
> 
> Enjoy!

\--

It was a couple of days later when they noticed Nero’s trigger waver for just a few seconds and held their breath. Most of Nero’s wounds had fully healed now that he was having a stable diet of pizza and lots of other meats (Nero really liked the chicken strips.) and lots of rest. Nero was almost like a cat, sleeping for nearly 18 hours a day and only waking up to eat or watch DVDs, though half the time Nero fell asleep during them.

Nero’s left eye had healed some but the black veins remained and it served as a constant reminder to the twins just what the kid had been through.

Dante had taken a few phone calls from Trish, explaining the situation without giving too much away. His demon side had been in overdrive since that night and just about tolerated the pizza delivery kid because they brought food. Otherwise anyone who came 2 feet into what Dante perceived as his territory soon found themselves chased off.

Seriously The postman had started leaving his post as far from the Devil May Cry building as possible.

Vergil hadn’t been much better, spending most of his time either hunting down information about the Male Tanith Naga or moping around the shop in his Sin form or grooming Nero’s hair or wings.

Still, Dante couldn’t complain. Being able to see both of them eased some of the agitation his demon side was feeling. Vergil was his mate and had been for a very long time, Dante was loath to let him disappear again after so long. And Nero was, well, Nero. Even in his demon form he was the most kind hearted person he had ever met, loved to groom Dante and Vergil’s wings and tidied Dante’s bed and got huffy if the covers were dirty (all of them had taken to piling into Dante’s bed for sleep.) but he was also extremely powerful. Even injured he radiated power and Dante wasn’t going to lie and say he wasn’t lured by that power. 

His demon side had already decided that Nero would make a worthy mate and Dante was sure Vergil was the same. However they both knew their demonic sides wouldn’t try anything until Nero was back into his human mind.

Since Dante had woken Nero from his nightmare on the couch, there had been no other changes in Nero’s triggered state until now. For those few seconds, Dante had managed to see Nero’s soft pale skin and blue eyes.

Once Nero had disappeared upstairs with an armful of clean bedding, both Vergil and Dante let out a breath.

“Do you think?” They both asked at the same time, and Dante laughed, running a hand over his face, the feeling of relief almost drowning him. Vergil had perched himself on the arm of the sofa and was battling against a smile.

“Jesus, at least we know we’re doing something right.”

“Indeed, it appears that once Nero is fully healed, his demonic side may give back the reins so to speak.” They had tossed ideas back and forth as to how they could get Nero to detrigger but they hadn’t come up with anything. It seemed rest, food and a safe environment was all they needed.

“I wonder if he’ll remember any of this?” Dante mused, scratching at his stubble, briefly remembering the time Nero had been trying to scent mark him so he had rubbed their cheeks together. Nero had let out a sound close to a squeal and even laughed when Dante went to do it again. Now whenever Nero came to scent mark him (which was daily, the kid was as possessive of them as they were of him) he would rub their cheeks, and giggle.

It was nice though, both of them had held such tight control over their demon sides that actually giving in and doing demon things like scent marking, sleeping in a nest and grooming had Dante feeling more relaxed then he had in years. Even Vergil’s minute facial expressions had become more noticeable.

“I don’t know-” Both of them tensed when they sensed a presence in their territory before realising it was just cat. Vergil huffed out a breath and Dante shifted in his signature pose.

“We won’t know until he detriggers though I doubt he will remember what happened between after he triggered and us finding him. Although that would probably be for the best.”

They both watched as Nero reappeared, nabbing Vergil’s coat and disappearing back upstairs.

“We should probably stop him from hording all our stuff-” Daye said before getting cut off by the phone ringing. He answered it by slamming is foot on the table and catching it mid air.

“Devil May Cry.”

_Ah, you answered. Good. I have a job for you.”_

“Sorry, Morrison, no can do.”

 _I wasn’t asking Dante. The girls are busy dealing with a large demon nest and Nero’s out of commission. A hellgate has appeared in the forest not too far from where Nero had taken his job. From what has been reported, a giant snake has been rampaging and is now getting close to a local town. If you do this, then I promise not to bother you for another few days.”_  
Dante could feel the strength of Vergil’s glare, his brother was about as happy with this situation as he was. He really wished he could hang up the phone but knew if people died because they had been worried about Nero, the kid would be livid.

Dante slammed the phone onto the cradle instead of answering, he let out a breath and tried to not let his anger manifest. Vergil scoffed, sounding disgusted but Dante heard him pick up Yamato all the same.

It took little time for them to get ready to leave although they encountered one not so tiny problem.

And that was Nero.

As soon as they had opened the doors to leave they slammed shut with the enough force that the foundations shook. Two large spectral hands were holding them shut and when they turned around they saw Nero perched like a gargoyle on top of Dante’s desk, wings flared out and glowing.

“Well shit.” they both said in unison.

-

Dante kept his eyes on the road, briefly looking in his rearview mirror to watch Vergil attempt to get Nero to leave his seat belt on for the eighth time since they hit the road. They had no choice but to bring Nero with them as the younger man was just as stubborn in his demon mind as he was in his human mind and wouldn’t let them leave.

So here they were, driving back towards the god forsaken forest where they had found Nero. Vergil had practically thrown a fit at the idea of taking Nero anywhere near a possibly very angry Naga but they were stuck for options and this had been the only one that made sense.

Dante didn’t like it either but at least this way they could keep an eye on the kid, besides it wasn’t like Nero was helpless. The younger hunter had beat them both, well Dante had already been tired at the time he received the bitch slap to the face but that wasn’t the point, Nero would be just fine.

“GRRRRRRRR.”

Dante’s beautiful convertable lurched dangerously as two spectral wings blew off the back doors, digging into the ground and leaving giant grooves in the tarmac. The car shuddered as it was forced to a stop and Dante stared at the road for a few seconds before turning off the engine.

“Grrrrrrrrrrr.”

“Uh, Verge? What’s he saying?” Dante asked, looking at the rearview mirror instead of turning in his seat as he wasn’t prepared to see the damage to his beauty just yet. There was a huff beside him.

“I don’t know Dante, I don’t speak growls.”

“Hey, don’t get snappy at me. He’s your son, so y’know, read his mind like dad’s do.”

“One, I’m not Sparda. And two, even if it was possible, I don’t think me and Nero have the kind of relationship that would allow me to do so!” Vergil bitched, sending Dante one of his famous glares. Dante glared back stubbornly and it became a battle of wills to who would look away first.

Although the staring contest got interrupted by Nero who literally launched the car backwards through the air just as a giant spiked tail burst through the ground where they had been. The car bounced and gave a whine at the abuse and Dante patted the steering wheel in sympathy before opening his door and stepping out, his twin guns at the ready.

The spiked tail disappeared into the ground before the ground rumbled threateningly and up spawned the top half of the Naga, and it was huge. Much bigger than the she snake they had found. Dante winced.

“Oof, I’m glad I wasn’t that she snake.” Dante whistled, ducking when Vergil threw a rock at him.

“Shut up Dante. Don’t aggravate it even more.”

 **”GIVE ME THE CHILD OF SSPARDA THAT KILLED MY BELOVED!”** The Naga roared, fully emerging from the ground. His snake body went on for at least half a mile. His human shaped part was muscled and seemed to fit his snake part perfectly. He also had six arms coming from his torso although they were just a bit too long to be human and the hands were clawed. His hair also seemed to be snakes and he had a set of four horns that curled round making him look like he almost had Leia buns.

Something that Dante found infinitely and suddenly hilarious, so much so he burst out laugh, clutching his stomach. The Naga, Vergil and Nero all turned to stare at him: The demon in furious anger and Vergil and Nero in confused exasperation.

“He-he has princess Leia buns!” Dante wheezed as he laughed, wiping away a few tears.

 **”YOU DARE MOCK ME? ARE YOU THE ONE WHO KILLED MY BELOVED?!”** The Naga snarled, rising higher to leer down at Dante. The a was a quiet groan from Vergil who was pinching the bridge of his nose, looking like he had a headache forming.

“B-but…. _buns!_ ” The demon roared and flung the tip of his tail which was nearly as big as lorry towards Dante. Dante wheezed a quiet ‘Oh shit.’ and readied himself for the pain….that didn’t come. He opened his eyes and saw the tip of the tail inches from his face. On closer look, a giant spectral hand had the rest in a tight, crushing grip: so tight in fact that Dante could both see and hear the bones and scales crunching and shattering under the force.

A second hand appeared a bit further down the tail, it’s grip just as tight as the first. The owner of said hands growled before roaring and Dante got to watch in close and morbid fascination as Nero tore the tail off the demon.

The Naga howled and swung the lower part of his body away from Nero’s grasp, who completely crushed the tip, blood splattering over Dante and the floor before dropping the remains on the floor.

 **”YOU! YOU ARE THE ONE WHO KILLED MY BELOVED. I WILL ENJOY TORTURING YOU UNTIL YOU BEG FOR DEATH, CHILD OF SSSSSSPARDA!”** The Naga dived for Nero whose face suddenly became blank and his wings fluttered, as if he was scared.

“Nero!” Dante shouted, running towards the younger hunter.

“I think not!” There was a flash of blue and the diving Naga was hurtled sideways by Vergil who roared and tore one of the Naga’s six arms clean off. Vergil's razor sharp tail swung out and stabbed through another arm while numerous blade pierced through the Naga’s body.

Meanwhile Dante had made it to Nero who was completely frozen, amber eyes distant like the young man wasn’t seeing what was happening in front of him. Spectral wings shuddered and their glow dimmed to nearly nonexistent.

“Kid, c’mon snap out of it, come back to us!” Dante shook Nero but the quarter demon remained unresponsive. There was another howl from the Naga and Dante watched with complete heartbreaking sadness as spectral wings flared out, almost hitting him, only to then curl round Nero’s form, the clawed hands curling over Nero’s head as if to protect it.

He felt his own demon side crumble at the sight of Nero so obviously scared, a low whine caught at the back of his throat and Dante swallowed it down and replaced it with anger. Anger for what that bitch snake had done, for what the bastard snake had done. No one hurt his Nero and got away with it. He was itching to trigger and join Vergil but he could feel that his help was both not needed and not wanted. This Naga might not have been the one to hurt Nero but it was sure as hell a threat to Nero now and if one thing had taught Dante, it was that Vergil was rarely a forgiving man.

Dante grit his teeth and triggered, just barely holding onto his demonic instincts that were screaming at him to kill any threat to his Nero, his hopefully to be soon mate. The last time he felt like this was when he and Vergil had leapt into the demon world to kill the Qliphoth, of course back then he could let his demonic nature go and _destroy_ but he couldn't do that right now.

Nero needed comfort and safety.

“C’mon kid, we’re cramping Vergil’s style.”

-

Vergil snarled as he yanked the Naga’s claws from his chest, snapping the bone easily. He dodged the heavy strike from the remaining tail, using his demonic energy to warp into the air. The Naga hissed and spat what looked like venom at Vergil who easily sidestepped the attack. He ignored the hiss of tree’s melting under the acidic venom and summoned Yamato, slicing through an arm horizontally, rending it in half, before slicing off one of those ridiculous horns that had amused Dante so much.

The Naga gasped and looked down at his remaining two arms and grit their teeth. Vergil perched on top of another tree, waiting however he was briefly distracted as he sensed Dante’s trigger and turned to see the red clad demon carrying Nero away from the Naga.

**”TOO SSSSSLOW SON OF SSSSSPARDA!”**

Vergil jerked in momentary surprise, not seeing the venom tipped claws until they cut through one of his wings and lodged themselves in his side, curling round a few ribs. He hissed as he felt the acid melt his flesh and said ribs. He grabbed the arm to stop the Naga from attempting to pull his insides out and instead took the opportunity to study the amount of damage he had caused.

The Naga was missing one curled horn and good chuck of it’s snake hair, three arms were useless and one was missing completely. There were at least a hundred stab wounds caused by Vergil's demonic blades along the snake half that were bleeding sluggishly, as well as the missing tip that Nero had ripped off before going catatonic.

“I will repay what your bitch did to my Nero, and by the end it will be you begging for death!” Vergil said quietly, almost sounding calm. The only thing that gave away his rage was the fact he was still triggered and that his demon side practically radiated bloodlust.

He yanked the claws from his side,quickly using Yamato in his other hand to remove the arm it was attached to. He ignored the amount blood that seeped from the wound, too intent on summoning more spectral blade to pin the remaining tail before it was quickly discarded by a slice from Yamato.

The Naga backpedaled but it was too slow to dodge another sice from Yamato that rid him of his remaining arm and another horn. The scent of fear rose as the Naga realised that it was out of its depth making Vergil’s demon side purr. More blades appeared until half of the remaining snake body was pinned completely. It took a wave of his hand to have the human part of the Naga’s body impaled in the same places that Nero had been, all except one.

He watched, detached from any emotion that might have given mercy to the demon, even as it began to beg for its life.

“I will grant you the same amount of mercy as your bitch did to Nero, which was none.” Vergil snarled, his grip tightening on Yamato until his scales creaked with the pressure. “She tortured him to the point that in order to protect himself he gave up his human rationale and became completely demon, and even when he ripped that whore to pieces, he was still so grievously injured that he remained in his demon form.” With a flash of blue, Vergil stood completely human looking on top of the now very terrified Naga.

“These blades are impaled exactly where your ‘beloved’ had impaled Nero.” They were spat with such hate that Vergil was surprised they didn’t physically wound the Naga. “Oh, all except one of course.” 

Vergil lifted Yamato, slowly running the tip of the blade along the Naga’s face until it eventually hovered over the demon's left eye.

“Nero was lucky that his powers are so strong that despite his other wounds and malnutrition he managed to regrow his eye. I wonder if you’ll be able to do the same, hmm?” Vergil watched in glee as the Naga tried to jerk their head back only to realise there was nowhere to go, still begging for their life.

“Shame we won’t know, because you will not be surviving this.”

-

Nero’s human mind felt like it was swimming in thick mud, also everything seemed topsy turvy, like up was down and left was up and so on. He also couldn’t remember anything, the last he could vaguely remember was entering an old, weather worn factory.

_“Must rest, human. Time to awake is soon.”_

Nero looked round sluggishly, feeling exhausted at trying to fight the miasma he found himself in. He blinked in confusion when he saw his trigger looking back at him.

“..What.”

 _“Soon. Soon we will be healed and you can return. For now trust in your mates to protect you.”_ With that his trigger disappeared and Nero was left floating in the darkness again. His eyes closed against his permission and he felt himself slowly drifting off to sleep, his last thought being ‘what did he mean by mates?’

-

Dante breathed a sigh of relief when Nero finally uncurled, his wings closing and the claws hooking over his shoulders. He had carried the younger demon away from the battle, knowing Vergil could look after himself just fine. 

He detriggered and ran his hand through his hair. He had been so worried that Nero had completely shut down and nothing could get through to him. Nero was a strong person and to see him cower before the Naga had made Dante’s heartbreak and his demon side rage.

He wrapped his arms round the younger man, smiling when Nero purred and butted the top of his head to Dante’s chin.

“....Sa.fe?” Dante jumped in surprise at the garbled word, disbelieving. Nero hadn’t uttered a word since they found him and Dante had thought Nero’s demon side was incapable of doing so without Nero’s humanity to help.

“Yeah, kid. You’re safe.” Dante said, tightening his arms as the distant sound of battle dulled before going silent. He listened out in case something else decided to try and take a chunk out of them but no, all he could hear was Vergil’s steady footfalls coming towards them.

Both he and Nero jumped when Vergil appeared, carrying the Naga's severed head like a battle trophy.

Dante felt a rush of pleasure at the grim sight, allowing a smirk to come to his face as his demonic nature practically vibrated at the show of power.

Vergil dropped the head in front of Nero whose wings ruffled but he stayed content in Dante's arms, peering curiously.

"No Naga will harm you again. This I promise." Vergil spoke, his voice deep and eyes red. Dante's smirk widened into something teasing at Vergil's obvious postering, although his smirk dimmed when Vergil swayed on his feet.

Blue hands shot out and steadied Vergil, slowly lowering him to the floor. It was then Dante noticed that the side of Vergil’s coat was drenched in blood and the smell of singed flesh clung to the old twin.

“Shit Verge. You ok?” Dante asked, letting a wiggling Nero go so the younger man could fuss over Vergil.

“I’m fine Dante, I will be needing a new coat however.” The fact that Vergil did look upset about his coat reassured Dante that his brother would be ok. Nero trilled worriedly.

“...V-Vergil…. Ok?” Both twins' heads snapped towards Nero at his stuttered words. Both of them were speechless until Vergil managed to gather his wits. The older man gently put his hand on Nero’s shoulder.

“I will be fine once we get back to the office.” Nero’s face brightened at Vergil’s words.

“Nest!” With that Vergil found himself suddenly lifted from the ground and carried in spectral wings while poor Dante found himself dragged along the floor by the collar of his coat towards where the car was parked..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh sorry if the fight scene sucked. I tried my best T^T But the end is in sight!
> 
> I will try my best to get the next chapter out as soon as I can!

**Author's Note:**

> -
> 
> So i will post the second chapter as soon as i've finished it. I kinda don't want to make it too long as i do have other wips i need to finish ^^'


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